classics department newsletter - gettysburg college...classics department newsletter 2016 1 from the...

FALL 2016

GettysburG ColleGe

CLAssiCs DepArtmentnewsLetter

Classics Department Newsletter 2016

Table of Contents

Notes from the Department Chair …………………..... 1

Faculty News ……………………………………………… 2-4

Prizes and Awards …………………………………………. 5

2015 Fall Honors Day Recipients

2016 Spring Honors Day Recipients

2016 Fulbright U.S. Student Program Grant

Events and Organizations …………………........................ 6-7

Greek Exhibition Field Trip

Classics Welcome Party

Eta Sigma Phi

Department News …………………………………………. 7

Alumni News ……………………………………………… 7-12

Alumni News

Send us your news


1

From the Classics Department Chair by GailAnn Rickert

Dear Alumnae and Alumni,

It is a pleasure to send greetings and best

wishes for the coming new year, along with our

first Classics Department Newsletter. We have

been talking about starting a Newsletter for

some time, and now Clare Crone, our

Administrative Assistant, and Maria Kurt, a

sophomore Classics major, have produced our

first edition. We look forward to keeping you

informed about the Classics department and

hearing from you so that we can learn more about what you are doing

and share all the ways that the study of Classics is still a part of your

lives.

As you see below, some new faculty have joined our department, and we

are excited about the paths into the ancient Mediterranean world their

scholarship and teaching will open up for us. Professor Snively is on

sabbatical this year, spending time in Athens and the Republic of

Macedonia. When she returns, we look forward to hearing about her

adventures and sharing them with you.

Please have a look at our Classics Department web page, so you can see

what courses we are offering and learn more about our current students

and faculty. I hope that you will have occasion to visit us or write if you

have any questions or interests we can help you pursue. If you are

thinking about visiting campus, please let us know ahead of time so that

we can create an opportunity for you to spend some time with our

students and faculty.

Many thanks to those of you who have already sent us news! We look

forward to hearing more from all of you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Rickert


2

Department of Classics GailAnn Rickert, Chairperson

Carolyn S. Snively, Professor

Rachel Lesser, Visiting Assistant Professor

Benjamin Luley, Visiting Assistant Professor

Christopher Kurfess, Adjunct Assistant Professor

Clare Crone, Academic Administrative Assistant

Classics Website: http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/classics/

About the Faculty

Christopher Kurfess – Having read mainly comic books in my early

years, I have studied Classics and Philosophy

of one sort or another since my days as an

undergraduate in the Great Books Program at

St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland.

Despite a quite intimidating first encounter

with Greek and the works of Plato and

Aristotle in my freshman year, a deep

fascination with Greek philosophy took hold,

and I eventually wrote a senior paper on

Plato’s Republic. After graduating I enrolled

in an M.A. program in Eastern Classics at St.

John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I developed keen

interests in Sanskrit, the philosophy of the Upaniṣhads, and Zhuangzi.

This led, in turn, to intensive study of Greek and Latin at the Latin/Greek

Institute at the City University of New York, as well as to further

graduate study in East-West Comparative Philosophy at the University of

Hawai‘i at Mānoa, in Philosophy at Kings College London (where I

wrote an M.Phil. thesis on Plato’s Cratylus), and in Classics, Philosophy

and Ancient Science at the University of Pittsburgh. I received a Ph.D. in

Classics from Pitt, having written a dissertation, Restoring Parmenides’

Poem, on the fragmentary remains of the early Greek philosopher

Parmenides of Elea.


3

At Gettysburg I am teaching Beginning Latin and Intermediate Latin. I

have also taught various courses in myth, classical literature, philosophy

and the humanities at the University of Pittsburgh, at West Virginia

University, and at Carroll Community College. Areas of current research

include the Presocratic poets, the dialogues of Plato, Aristotle’s

philosophy of nature, and the later reception of classical thought.

I live in Westminster, Maryland with my wife, Sarah, and our son,

Leonard.

Rachel Lesser –

Professor Lesser teaches courses in Greek

and Latin language and literature, Greek

history, and gender and sexuality in ancient

Greece. Her primary research interests are in

Greek poetry, art, and culture, and she uses a

variety of modern critical theories and

approaches in her work. She focuses

particularly on desire, gender, and narrative

in Homeric epic, and is writing a book

tentatively titled Desire and Plot in the Iliad.

She is also interested in the American and

British reception of classics in the 19th–21

st centuries, and recently

published an article on the Star Wars franchise and the epic tradition in

the online journal Eidolon. Professor Lesser received her Ph.D. in

Classics, with a designated emphasis in Women, Gender, and Sexuality,

from the University of California, Berkeley. She also holds a B.A. in

Classics from Columbia University, and a second B.A. in Classics and

English from Oxford University. She is originally from Amherst,

Massachusetts, and enjoys country living, outdoor adventures, ultimate

frisbee, playing the cello, traveling, reading, and listening to National

Public Radio. Professor Lesser joined the faculty of Gettysburg College

in Fall 2016.


4

Benjamin Luley –

A native of Central Pennsylvania, Professor

Luley received his B.A. in history and

anthropology from Penn State University, and

his M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from the

University of Chicago. His research focuses

on the archaeology of Iron Age and Roman

Europe and the Mediterranean, and in

particularly on how the expansion of the

Roman Empire effect the Celtic peoples of

France. Professor Luley excavates at the

archaeological site of Lattara (modern

Lattes), in Languedoc, France, where along with French colleagues he

unearthed remains of a first-century B.C. tavern. In addition, he has led

Gettysburg College students excavating at the Revolutionary War site of

Camp Security near York, Pennsylvania. He has published research

articles in journals such as Antiquity, the American Journal of

Archaeology, and the Journal of Anthropological Archaeology.

Carolyn Snively –

Currently on Sabbatical for 2016-17

Academic Year Read more about Prof. Snively’s work

here

http://www.gettysburg.edu/news_events/press_release_detail.dot?id=8451ca7c-dd14-4ca7-a617-27f94637acbf&pageTitle=The+mysteries+of+Golemo+Gradi%C5%A1te+at+Konjuh


5

Prizes and Awards

2016 Spring Honors Day Awards

Shaffer Prize in Classical Studies: Anoush Hana Aghababian

Rachel Marie Grande

Established by Mary M. Shaffer in memory of Dr. William Frederick

Shaffer, Franklin Professor of Greek, and awarded to a senior who

demonstrated outstanding achievement and promise in Greek, Latin, or

classics.

Phi Beta Kappa: Rachel Marie Grande The Gettysburg College chapter elects to membership around five to ten

percent of the senior class who have distinguished academic records and

exhibit high moral character and intellectual curiosity.

Fulbright U.S. Student Program Grant: Anoush H. Aghababian

Awarded to facilitate cultural exchange and promote mutual

understanding. Anoush has been using this to teach English in Yerevan,

Armenia, at the Russian – Armenian (Slavonic) University.

2016 Fall Honors Day Awards Samuel Garver Latin Prize: Hayden R. Hall

Awarded to the student who has made the greatest progress in Latin

during the first year of college; created by Rev. Austin S. Garver.

Hassler Latin Prize: Marni L. Smith

To be awarded to the best Latin student in the junior class; created by

Charles W. Hassler.

Muhlenberg First Year Student Prize: Joshua R. Wagner

Awarded to the first year student, taking Greek or Latin, who attains the

highest general quality point average; created by Dr. Frederick A.

Muhlenberg.


6

Events, Organizations, Etc.

Greek Exhibition Field Trip On Saturday, September 24,

2016, Professor Lesser

brought students from two

Gettysburg Classics courses

(Greek History and Classics

of Greek& Latin Literature)

to see a visiting exhibition on

"The Greeks" at the National

Geographic Museum in

Washington, D.C. They were

joined by Dean Rickert, chair

of the Department of

Classics, and Professor Else from the Department of Art & Art History.

Everyone had a great time looking at and learning from Greek works of

art and archaeological finds dating from the Mycenaean period to the age

of Alexander the Great. In the picture, students and faculty--inspired by

the exhibition's "Trojan horse"--are ready to storm the museum.

Classics Welcome Party The Classics Department held

a welcome party for Classics

majors and prospective majors

on Thursday, October 20th,

2016. Professor Lesser,

Professor Luley, and Dean

Rickert were present to talk

about courses and take part in

discussions on what the

students would like to see the department do, as well as how to get other

students interested in the major. Everyone involved enjoyed the food and

had a great time!


7

Eta Sigma Phi A Classics honorary society for students who maintained a B or better

average in at least two courses in the department, who are enrolled in an

additional classics course. The faculty advisor is Professor Rachel

Lesser.

Classics Department News

2015-16 Student Staff

The History Department

celebrates our 3 student staff here

in the Administrative Office

during the Career Development

Student Appreciation Week held

April 11 – 15, 2016. They were

very excited to take their

“survival” packages along with

them to help get them through the end of the semester and finals week.

From left to right: Anoush Aghababian ’16, Classics major; Chentese

Stewart-Garner ’18, Sociology major; and Keira Koch ’19, undeclared

but strong interest in History and Classics.

Alumni News Thanks to all our alumni who submitted their news!

We look forward to hearing back from you in the

years to come, and always welcome a personal visit to

campus!

Class of ‘58 Ada Louise Kreider Steirer –

I ended my career as a Research Associate in Community and Economic

Development at Clemson University's Strom Thurmond Institute in 2006,


8

was a researcher, editor, and writer. During my teaching career in the

fifties and sixties I taught Latin and Russian in Pennsylvania schools.

Class of ’68 –

Kenneth Diable –

I have retired as an ELCA pastor. I continue to teach for Mount Aloysius

College, Cresson PA, and Saint Francis University, Loretto Pa. I received

my PH.D. in Old Testament Studies from Drew University, Madison NJ,

in 2007.

Class of ’72 –

Gretchen Cranz Fornof –

Majored in Classics and Theater Arts, got M.A.R. from Gettysburg

Seminary in 1976, M.Div. in 1996, served a parish for 10 years and am

happily retired!!

Class of ’88 –

Brendan Gerrity –

A brief update on me since I graduated in 1988 with a Management

major and Classics minor. I worked in consulting for a couple of years

and then got my MBA from Bucknell. While I was there I was awarded a

Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship and went to study in Sydney,

Australia for my second Masters in International Economics. Following

graduation, I joined Procter & Gamble in Sydney, working in

Marketing/Brand Management for Australia and New Zealand.

Subsequent promotions saw me move to the regional office in Singapore,

covering ANZ, ASEAN, and India and then to the Hong Kong office,

covering HK, China, Taiwan and Korea. I was then headhunted to lead

the largest luxury retailer in the Middle East and moved to Dubai.

Following 18 years of living abroad, I decided to be nearer to family and

moved back to the US and I'm currently based in Southern California,

working as VP of International Marketing for MASCO Corp., a branded

buildings materials company. In my travels, I've been to over fifty

countries, including Greece and Italy multiple times. It was nice to be

able to recall the classroom lectures from Weidensall Hall and then be at

the actual location, be it the Parthenon, Delphi, the Roman forum or

Coliseum.


9

Class of ‘77 Cal Holloway –

Both Laurie '77 and I continue to cherish our time and skills learned in

the department. Latin was eliminated from the curriculum of Columbus

City Schools last year, so Laurie now teaches English. I continue to use

Greek in preparation for my sermons and occasional recreational use.

Scott Morschauser –

Professor of Ancient and Medieval History, Rowan University,

Glassboro, NJ.

Class of ‘84 Sam McNew –

Hi! My name is Sam McNew '84 BA in Classical Studies (cum laude). I

was promoted to Central Supply Supervisor at the Masonic Village of

Elizabethtown PA in June of this year. Though my career path did not

take me in the direction of my major, I still love the classics! I'm on a

lifetime project collecting Simplicius' Commentary on Aristotle's Physics

(thanks to Prof.Coulter) and still pull out my Proclus' Elements and

Damascius' On First Principles from time to time.

Class of ‘90

Darren Poley – Librarian for theology/humanities/classical studies at Villanova

University. I am also currently teaching a first-year experience seminar

called “Augustine and Culture: Ancients” that allows me to explore

works of ancient literature with freshman at Villanova. Another piece of

news: my oldest daughter Emma Poley is a sophomore at Villanova

University; is in the Honor Program; and has declared a double major in

Classical Studies and Humanities.

Class of ‘94

Elizabeth Tee –

Continue to run my PR company, Troncossi Public Relations, of 16 years

in Bermuda. Bred my Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in May 2016 and

she had four healthy puppies.


10

Class of ‘98

Dr. Brent Hege –

I was selected by my bishop to serve as co-chair for the Indiana-

Kentucky Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

celebration of the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation in 2017.

Class of ‘00

Matthew Sullivan –

Matthew got married on September 18th, 2015 and is currently working

for a non-profit fundraiser in Greater Boston.

Class of ‘02

Anthony Grattini – I am a Middle School Science Teacher at Southern Highlands

Preparatory School Science Olympiad Coach - the middle school

students earned 3rd in the state of Nevada in March 2016. Also am a

Lego Robotics Coach NJHS Advisor. I'm married and have a 3 year old

son named Giuseppe. I love my background in Classics (Latin) as it

helps me explain the origin of the many scientific terms with Latin and

Greek beginnings. I am grateful to have Dr. Etheridge and Dr. Pool as

role models for the type of teacher I strive to be every year. Thanks

Gettysburg College!

Class of ‘04

Darcy Pooler – Married April 2015 to Scot Pooler. Welcomed daughter Evelyn

(prematurely) in December 2015. All are happy and healthy. Darcy is

currently a Scientist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and is the

Assistant Director of the Clinical Pharmacology resource at the Norris

Cotton Cancer Center.

Class of ‘05 Katy Mereen –

I am living in Alexandria, VA, and have lived in the DC area for almost

a decade now. I serve as the Executive Director of the Digital Dialogue

Forum, a tech policy roundtable. My husband, Tom Wilk, is a fellow

Gettysburg 2005 grad (he majored in Philosophy and Economics) and


11

we've been married since 2010. We have a two year old son who loves

anything orange and blue.

Class of ‘07

Sarah Dugan –

I was recently promoted within the HR Department at The Kimmel

Center for Performing Arts. While not directly related to my studies at

Gettysburg, I use what I learned in Classics often!

Patricia Hay –

In addition to my Classics and Anthropology from Gettysburg, I have an

M.A. in Applied History and an M.S.Ed. in Secondary Education. I am a

Latin teacher for both face to face and online students.

Class of ‘10

Rachel Buckley –

In 2013 I received my Master's in Elementary Education from DePaul

University and in 2015 I received my Master's in Reading from

Roosevelt University. I taught kindergarten in the Chicago Public

Schools for 3 years before moving to the Hartford, CT suburbs this past

summer. I currently teach 4th grade reading at Museum Academy, a

magnet school in the Capitol Region Education Council.

Allyson King –

I'm working as an assistant managing editor at Allen Press, which

specializes in academic journal publishing. I currently manage the peer

review process for 16 publications, ranging from computer science to

rubber chemistry to medical studies.

Class of ‘13 Alexander Skufca –

Alex Skufca is entering his fourth year as a PhD student in the

Department of Classics at Florida State University. He has recently given

papers at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America

and the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. In the

summer of 2015, Alex participated in an international program at the

Humboldt University of Berlin on "Globalized Classics."


12

Class of ‘14

Andy Monthey –

I recently got engaged to Emily Wagman (Middlebury College, Class of

2013). I also accepted a full-time associate attorney position at Robinson

& Cole, a law firm in Boston, Massachusetts. I will be taking the

Massachusetts bar after graduating from William & Mary Law School in

May of 2017.

Class of ‘16

Anoush Aghababian –

I recently received a Fulbright scholarship to teach English in Yerevan.

Having lived in Japan, accompanied Prof. Snively to Macedonia, and

studied in Italy and Indonesia, this is my fifth major abroad experience. I

am teaching an advanced-level English course on world art history at the

Slavonic University. With interests in classical languages and Early

Christianity, I am extremely excited to be exploring the world's first

Christian nation. I will be returning to the States in June and will resume

my Master's work at the University of Georgia.

Send Us Your News! Do you have some news you would like to share with the Classic De-

partment and your fellow Classics grads in next year’s newsletter? If so,

please fill in the information below and return this form to:

Classics Department Newsletter

Gettysburg College Campus Box 394

Gettysburg PA 17325

Or, visit us on the web at:

http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/classics/

Name ___________________________ Graduation Year ______

Address ______________________________________________

City ____________________ State ________ Zip ____________

Email Address: ________________________________________

News: _______________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/classics/

Department of ClassicsGettysburg College

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325

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